any advise?

[sniksoh 0]

ok...i am going to try deer hair one last time...any advise.

 

man do i hate this stuff!!!!!

[Chase Creek 0]

Get a Brassie Hair Packer (about $5) and follow the directions. Simple to use. Some guys use a ball point pen end or such to pack hair, but this thing works great. Think it was thought up by Chris Helm, THE expert on spinning hair.

[flytire 0]

Get a deer hair tying video from Chris Helm!!!

[mb82 0]

I personally feel I can pack tighter without the packer. The trick for me that made my deerhair 1000X better was learning to use the full rotation of my vice while I am shaping.

[Nealbo 0]

The video that Chris Helm has out helped me alot. I just learned how to make deer hair popper. I learned in a day or two.

[kerusso 0]

snikosh,

 

I'm in the same boat with you. I've tried tying with deer hair and just get miserable results. But I am determined to figure this out. I just got half of a mule deer hide ( I told myself I'd make a pile of bullet head hoppers ) but as soon as I got it I knew I'd be tying some spun hair 'cause I'd be tying the rest of my life making hoppers. Hope you work things out. I've been following the thread to keep up with the feedback you've received.

[bowfin47 0]

Don't give up!!

 

The best students of deer hair that I've ever meet all were regulars at Federation of Fly Fishier Conclaves or were taught by people who were regulars at the Conclaves. At conclaves, I've spent many hours with Billy Munn, Darwin Atkins, Royce Dam, Jerry Jarosik, Chris Helm, Michael Verduin, Mike Huffman, Dave Whitlock, and a host of other excellent "hair men".

 

If you've never been to an FFF Conclave then make plan to attend one this year. The S.E. Council Conclave will be in will at Calloway Gardens in June, the FFF’s National Conclave will be in Montana in August, and the Southern Council Conclave will be held in Mountain Home in the first weekend in October.

 

If you never been to any to any of these, or the other FFF Conclaves across the country, then you've missed tremendous opportunities to learn from the very best tyers in the world... not just deer hair but every style of tying!! Check out the Federation at: http://www.fedflyfishers.org/

 

I cannot recommend a better way to learn to tie any style of fly! I've been attending and tying at FFF events for over 20 years, and I've watched many people become excellent tyers after they availed themselves of the opportunities afforded at these events.

 

In addition to the Conclaves, many FFF affiliated clubs hold events where they present local, regional, and national ranked tyers to the people and club members in their local area. In the last few years, my local FFF Club, the Red Stick Fly Fishers of Baton Rouge, LA, has held events featuring such noted tyers as: Michael Verduin, Walt Holman, Tom Nixon, Marc Pinsel, Nick Curcione, Ted Cabali, Danny Ayo, Terry and Roxanne Wilson, and a host of others less widely know but still excellent tyers.

 

If you don't have an FFF club in your area, then do what I did and start one. I did and that club is soon starting its 23rd year... so don't tell me that YOU can't do it!!

 

There are also other excellent events for tying. 17 years ago, I got together with several tying friends from different states. We meet at a Louisiana state park on Toledo Bend Lake. It was a "central point" for us. We've been doing it every November ever since! This gathering is called the North Toledo Bend Rendezvous and is one of the very best gatherings of tyers in the country, http://home.sprynet.com/~waltermc/ . From that gathering a separate "Spring Rondezvous" was founded about five or six years ago, and although it has gone through several "evolutions" it still occurs each April, http://www.flyfishtexas.org/indexSR.htm or http://orff.squarespace.com/ .

 

Tony Spezio, the great tyer from Flippin, Arkansas, is a regular at the Southern council Conclave each October. Tony and his local FFF club, the North Arkansas Fly Fishers, wanted a second gathering of tyers in their area each year, so they founded the Sow Bug Roundup each Feb. in Mountain Home, Arkansas, http://www.northarkansasflyfisher.org/Sowbug.html . It is a huge success. The Little Missouri River guide and regular tyer at FFF Conclaves, Jeff Guerin, looked at the success of the Sow Bug Roundup and decided that he wanted his tying friends to come to southwestern Arkansas, so he founded The Little Missouri Fly Fishing Festival, http://www.littlemissouriflyfishing.com/ff-festival.html. There are a bunch of others, such as The Smallmouth Rendezvous, http://www.okieflyfishers.org/; and The Texas Fly tying Festival, http://www.texasflyfishers.org; just to name a few in this area of the country.

 

So, come on down and tie with us, or start a gathering of tyers in your area. If we have done it - so can YOU!!

 

Now, as far as learning on your own goes, the best advice that I can give you is to:

 

1. Purchase 1/2 of a high quality tanned deer hide, a box of 100 hooks, and some double edged razor blades. First "spin" 100 flies (do not trim each - just spin)... then trim those 100 flies, one after the other. Next, take a razor blade and cut all the hair from those 100 hooks!! Repeat... Repeat... Repeat... Repeat... After you've done this 4 or 5 times, you'll be amazed at how far you will have come as a tyer!

 

2. Purchase the best hair that you can find!!! You can't learn when you try to utilize small squares of "junk" hair. Chris Helm is a excellent source of quallty hair. There are also many other excellent sources, but there is a whole lot of JUNK out there!!

 

2. Tie every day!!! Set up your desk where you can just sit down, without having "pull out everything" and then sit down and tie several flies every day!

 

Maybe I'll see ya' at a Conclave. If so, introduce yourself, and I'll introduce you to some great tyers.

 

Tight lines,

 

Kyle

[Nealbo 0]

I know this is of the subject but when will it be in Calloway Gardens the day. I was not able to go last year.

[MIKE*A 0]

Ditto what they said.........

Get a Chris Helm video/dvd and use good quality deer hair.....half of what you find in a fly shop is crap.......anymore when i need deer hair, I order from Chris helm.........he just recently wrote an article in of the flytying mag.s....I forget which one.....

[SkinnyPole 0]

Try this

http://www.warmwaterflytyer.com/patterns.asp